The present invention relates to agriculture fertilizer applicators. More specifically, the invention relates to an apparatus for subsoil application of livestock waste in the form of slurry (animal waste).
Historically, livestock waste, particularly in solid form, has been spread on the surface of the soil by a manure spreader using a flail to fling the material to the rear. A more modern side-discharge spreader also discharges the material on the surface of the soil. The advent of confinement systems for animals, which include pits below the confinement area, produces a large amount of animal waste, which must be handled and disposed of in a slurry form. Typically, the slurry is pumped into a large tank carried by a wagon, but it is still, for the most part, spread or sprayed on the surface of the soil.
This procedure has, as a principle objection, a strong odor, which resides after the waste is spread. Moreover, surface spreading of animal waste creates a hazard with the potential runoff of nitrates into rivers and streams or seeping of the material into ground water. This is objectionable because livestock waste is high in nitrogen, and with increasing concern with the quality of drinking water, this procedure is becoming less and less acceptable.
Various methods have been proposed for depositing the slurry into the ground. All the known methods, however, require dragging a knife through the soil to open a trough for the slurry. This limits the speed by which the tractor can travel and inefficiently wastes fuel by dragging a knife through the ground.